On the Twitter hashtag #overlyhonestmethods, Twitter-using scientists explain in all honesty what methods they used for their scientific research and experiments. This sample gives a glimpse into how science really works:

We didn’t show the structure because we forgot to patent it so only three people actually know what it is.

We decided to use Technique Y because it's new and sexy, plus hot and cool. And because we could.

I can't send you the original data because I don't remember what my excel file names mean anymore

The experiment was left for the precise time that it took for us to get a cup of tea.

I used that specific sequence of biotinylated DNA because I found some in the freezer.

Samples were prepared under cleanroom conditions, after removing the pile of dirt behind the big machine.

Our paper lacks post-2010 references as it's taken the co-authors that long to agree on where to submit the final draft.

The temperature controller on the spectrometer wouldn't go any lower in July, so this is the temperature we used.

We added 888 uL because it's a lucky number in China.

I did it this way because it was the first thing that got me a result and now my funding has run out ….

We only recovered 2/3 of the water monitors because a hurricane blew away the rest.

Steps 4 to 7 of the protocol were left out, because it gives the same result and saves one hour.

To confirm the findings, we decided to repeat the same experiments in our collaborator's lab. In Hawaii.

Incubation lasted three days because this is how long the undergrad forgot the experiment in the fridg.

We didn't test as many clams as oysters because we're pretty sure someone found the samples and ate them.

We used jargon instead of plain English to prove that a decade of grad school and postdoc made us smart.

The above 16 examples were culled from a post I found on the 50 best overlyhonest methods because I was too lazy to search for good examples on my own: Becky Port, Storify>>